PEGINTRON(TM) and REBETOL(R) Approved in European Union for Retreating Hepatitis C Patients Who Failed Previous Pegylated or Non-Pegylated Interferon Therapy Nov 15, 2007
g., thalassemia major, sickle-cell anemia), and patients with creatinine clearance less than 50 mL/min. Avoid Pregnancy REBETOL therapy should not be started until a report of a negative pregnancy test has been obtained immediately prior to planned initiation of therapy. (PR Newswire)
Scientists discover novel way to remove iron from ferritin Nov 3, 2007
The results of this study may help scientists develop new medications that dramatically improve the removal of excess iron in patients diagnosed with blood diseases such as B-Thalassemia (Cooley's anemia) or Sickle Cell Disease ... These include providing cures for blood diseases, developing new vaccines for infectious diseases and discovering new treatment protocols for previously fatal or debilitating conditions such as cancers, sickle cell disease and thalassemia, diabetes, asthma, HIV/AIDS,... (EurekAlert!)
Gene therapy sees early success for neurodegenerative disease Oct 31, 2007
This early success potentially opens the door to better treatments for many other diseases involving the bone marrow and blood cells, such as leukaemia, thalassemia and sickle-cell disease, the researchers say. The results, from two 7-year-old Spanish children with ALD, were announced on Sunday 28 October at the fifteenth Congress of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. (Nature News Service)
Company to sell blood-iron overload treatment in China Oct 20, 2007
Ferriprox "treats iron overload in the bloodstream which is often associated with thalassemia, a disease that can lead to organ damage and heart failure," Beijing said. "Thalassemia is particularly prevalent in humid environments, like in southern China, where it is estimated that 7-8 percent of the population needs treatment for the disease.". (Philadelphia Business Journal, PA)
Nobel prize for scientist who gave the world the knockout mouse Oct 10, 2007
Prof Smithies has used gene targeting to produce mouse models for a number of common human conditions, including high blood pressure and the blood disease thalassemia. Prof Capecchi has uncovered the roles of genes involved in mammalian body development, and shed light on the causes of several human birth defects. (Guardian Unlimited)
Nobel Prize For Medicine Goes To Scientists Working In UK And US Oct 9, 2007
Smithies has also developed mouse models of human diseases, including one for the inherited blood disease, thalassemia and others for hypertension and atherosclerosis. The Nobel Prize press release summarized the contribution and impact of the three 2007 Laureates as. (Medical News Today)
Mouse Model Pioneers Win Nobel Prize For Discoveries In Embryonic Stem Cells And DNA Recombination Oct 9, 2007
Smithies also used gene targeting to develop mouse models for inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis and the blood disease thalassemia. He has also developed numerous mouse models for common human diseases such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. (Science Daily)
Researchers in stem cell science awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine Oct 9, 2007
Smithies, 82, born in Britain, also used gene targeting to develop mouse models for inherited diseases like cystic fibrosis and thalassemia, a blood disease, as well as other diseases such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. In 2001 the three were awarded the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, which is often dubbed "America's Nobel" and has figured prominently in Nobel speculation in recent years. (International Herald Tribune)
Trio shares 2007 Nobel Medicine Prize Oct 9, 2007
And Smithies, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also used gene targeting to develop mouse models for inherited diseases including cystic fibrosis and the blood disease thalassemia. The award committee praised their work for having helped expand the knowledge of "numerous genes in embryonic development, adult physiology, aging and disease.". (Xinhuanet, China)
Novel Cause Of Iron Overload In Thalassemia Disorders Discovered Sep 1, 2007
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered a novel cause of iron overload in patients with thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that causes anemia. According to the study, thalassemia patients overproduce a protein called GDF15, which suppresses the production of a liver protein, hepcidin, which in turn leads to an increase in the uptake of dietary iron in the gut ... This finding has implications for iron metabolism in other diseases, including cancer, and may... (Science Daily)
Children's Hospital Oakland has growth spurt Aug 14, 2007
For example, Lubin wants to set up or pilot a sibling cord blood program in India -- similar to CHORI's nationally recognized U.S. program -- to combat sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, leukemia and other disorders. "We're looking for things that will give us the brand of some unique areas of global health," Lubin said. (San Francisco Business Times, CA)
Pathway That Eliminates Genetic Defects In Red Blood Cells Discovered Aug 3, 2007
Knowing how this specific surveillance system works can help researchers better understand hereditary diseases, in this case, thalassemia, a form of anemia, which is the most common genetic disorder worldwide ... The form of thalassemia studied by the Penn group is caused by a mutation that allows the cell s ribosome to read too far, making a protein that is too long. Thalassemias result from an underproduction of hemoglobin proteins the oxygen carrying molecule in blood hence the anemia. (Science Daily)
Knights plan benefit to aid suffering child Jun 3, 2007
James Cichowski, co-chairman of the Knights of Columbus in New Britain and a member of its Mary With Her Knights in Action Committee, knew he wanted to help after friends told him of Lucas and his struggle with the disease, called thalassemia ... Lucas suffers from an intermediate-to-severe form of thalassemia, or Cooley's anemia, which involves abnormalities in red blood cells slowing the dispersion of oxygen throughout the body ... "It's all in God's hands." According to the March of Dimes Web... (New Britain Herald, CT)
Fundraiser to help boy fight for his life May 18, 2007
Lucas was diagnosed with thalassemia, a form of anemia that affects production of hemoglobin in red blood cells ... And it hasn't come easy for the 17-month-old, who suffers from a rare and sometimes deadly disease called thalassemia, a form of anemia that affects production of hemoglobin in red cells ... "But he rolls with the punches. He's a happy baby and he loves life." Lucas suffers from the intermediate-severe form of thalassemia or Cooley's anemia, that involves abnormalities in red blood... (New Britain Herald, CT)
Morrisville's Ercole teams up again with Oregon biotech May 3, 2007
-based AVI to develop treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD, and beta thalassemia. AVI will lead the companies' DMD program and Ercole will lead the thalassemia program, though the agreement gives each company the ability to co-fund the other's program and split the profits from any resulting products ... Beta thalassemia is a genetic disorder that leads to bone deformities, anemia and early death. (Triangle Business Journal)
Schering-Plough Addresses Major Milestones and Challenges in Treatment of Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Apr 11, 2007
g., thalassemia major, sickle-cell anemia). The following serious or clinically significant adverse events have been reported at a frequency less than 1 percent with PEGINTRON or interferon alpha: severe decreases in neutrophil or platelet counts, hypothyroidism, hyperglycemia, hypotension, arrhythmia, ulcerative and hemorrhagic colitis, development or exacerbation of autoimmune disorders including thyroiditis, RA, systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, pulmonary disorders (dyspnea, pulmonary... (PR Newswire)
Living with pain Feb 17, 2007
Earma Johnson of Durham has sickle beta-zero thalassemia. She stayed at her government job longer than she may have simply because of the health insurance coverage. (Herald Sun)
How to Build a Better Mouse Model of Human Disease Jan 12, 2007
For example, the blood disorder -thalassemia had resisted attempts to model it by deleting part of the mouse gene for hemoglobin, a form of the oxygen-carrying blood protein ... Sure enough, although the genetic exchange happened rarely, when the resulting transgenic mice were again altered to mimic -thalassemia they had the same changes in hemoglobin gene expression and red blood cell shape as people with the human disorder, the group reports. (Scientific American)
BCCL acquires stake in Life Cell Jan 7, 2007
Stem cell therapy has become a standard therapy for diseases like leukaemia, thalassemia, anaemia and many other blood disorders. In fact for conditions like thalassemia which is widely prevalent in the Middle East, Stem cell therapy is the only possible permanent solution ... So banking of cord blood stem cells at the time of the baby's birth can cure a number of people of thalassemia. (Khaleej Times)
Military college to set up stem cell research centre Dec 26, 2006
Initially stem cell therapy was used only for treatment of blood diseases such as Thalassemia, Fanconi's anaemia and certain types of cancers as multiple myeloma and leukaemia. We are not playing god. (Monsters and Critics.com)
Children's Hospital Oakland, Calif.'s new iron regulation discovery Dec 22, 2006
This discovery could help researchers design medications for patients with iron overload that occurs in hemochromotosis, Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia. "Currently, there are medications available that are based on DNA structures such as anti-cancer drugs. Unfortunately, the problem with targeting DNA is that both healthy and cancerous cells have the same DNA, but they also have different mRNAs. Consequently, our research findings could help scientists design medications that target mRNAs,"... (EurekAlert!)
Bengal bandh claims one life Dec 2, 2006
RAIGANJ: He lost three children to thalassemia ... "His 15-year-old son Partha died of thalassemia in 1986. Four years later, his 13-year-old daughter, too, died of thalassemia. She was a Class-VII student," Ray said ... But on August 24 this year, Arpan (14), a Class-VIII student, died of thalassemia. (India Times, India -- Community News)
Future Health expands to the Middle East Nov 21, 2006
For the Middle East, the treatment of Thalassemia Beta and Sickle Cell anaemia is exceptionally important, as there is a high incidence amongst the population ... In the year 2000, one in 20 UAE nationals was a carrier of Thalassemia Beta trait. (AME Info (press release))
Banking on Indian Umbilical Cords Nov 17, 2006
Cord blood is used in the treatment of many ailments, especially blood diseases like leukemia, thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. With 43 million births a year, India is poised to be the largest supplier of umbilical cord blood in the world. (Wired News)
Faulty kits: PIL filed against WB govt Nov 3, 2006
"My son is affected with thalassemia and needs blood transfusion every month. Many of my friends' children also have the same problem. If the untested blood creates another problem in their lives, it would be a terrible human tragedy," said Tapas Sengupta, petitioner. Taking responsibility. (NDTV.com)
Nasal flu vaccine available to many ... K-9 control ... Sailors celebrate Navy\'s 231st birthday ... Housing Update -- Meters, mock bills precede utility billing ... Iron Major -- CGSC_students vie to find fittest of the fit ... The Hunt is on -- Group continues Fort Leavenworth tradition ... Army Ten-Miler teams finish fast ... Former track star honored for accomplishments ... Scout earns Eagle rank ... LHS_students commended ... Student attends leadership forum ... ';var marqueewidth="350px";var marqueeheight="20px";var marqueebgcolor="#FFFFFF";////NO NEED TO EDIT BELOW THIS LINE////////////var pauseit=1;var marqueespeed=1 //slow speed down by 1 for NSvar copyspeed=marqueespeedvar pausespeed=(pauseit==0)? copyspeed: 0var iedom=document.all||document.getElementByIdif (iedom)document.write(''+marqueecontent+'')var actualwidth=''var cross_marquee, ns_marqueefunction populate(){if (iedom){cross_marquee=document.getElementById? document.getElementById("iemarquee") : document.all.iemarqueecross_marquee.style.left=parseInt(marqueewidth)+8+"px"cross_marquee.innerHTML=marqueecontentactualwidth=document.all? temp.offsetWidth : document.getElementById("temp").offsetWidth}else if (document.layers){ns_marquee=document.ns_marquee.document.ns_marquee2ns_marquee.left=parseInt(marqueewidth)+8ns_marquee.document.write(marqueecontent)ns_marquee.document.close()actualwidth=ns_marquee.document.width}lefttime=setInterval("scrollmarquee()",20)}window.onload=populate;function scrollmarquee(){if (iedom){if (parseInt(cross_marquee.style.left)>(actualwidth*(-1)+8))cross_marquee.style.left=parseInt(cross_marquee.style.left)-copyspeed+"px"elsecross_marquee.style.left=parseInt(marqueewidth)+8+"px"}else if (document.layers){if (ns_marquee.left>(actualwidth*(-1)+8))ns_marquee.left-=copyspeedelsens_marquee.left=parseInt(marqueewidth)+8}}if (iedom||document.layers){with (document){document.write('')if (iedom){write('')write('')write('')write('')}else if (document.layers){write('')write('')write('')}document.write('')}}Friday, October 20, 2006 Nasal flu vaccine available to many Oct 21, 2006
-- People with a blood disease like sickle cell disease or Thalassemia. -- People who have received any vaccines within the last month. (Leavenworth Lamp, KS)
First thalassemia, now AIDS Oct 19, 2006
HOWRAH: Till February this year, 22-year-old Shampa Das (name changed) was suffering from thalassemia intermedia ... The Thalassemia and AIDS Prevention Society, West Bengal, maintains a register of all patients coming to the hematology department and also conducts HIV tests on them ... Blood transfusion to thalassemia patients accounts for only 12-15% of the total blood collected in the state. (India Times, India -- Community News)
Chronic Diseases And Injuries Now Number One Killer In Rural India Sep 30, 2006
(June 20, 2005) -- Children's Hospital Oakland, a world recognized center for treatment and research of thalassemia, has formed an international network treating patients throughout the world. Thalassemia is the. (Science Daily)
Singapore breeding facility mates Zebrafish for Science Sep 29, 2006
Scientists are currently working to find out why blood disorders such as anaemia and thalassemia occur. The fish are also tested on to find out the effects of drugs. (Channel NewsAsia, Singapore)
Buccaneers QB Simms has spleen removed Sep 25, 2006
0) { ES_showBox(); };ES_searchKeyPress( this. length );" onMouseDown="ES_searchKeyPress( this. (ESPN -- Football)
No More Needles - A New Breakthrough for Iron Overload Sep 21, 2006
References [1] Exjade Summary of Product Characteristics, Novartis, August 2006 [2] Delea, et al. Cost and Consequences of Inadequate Compliance with Deferoxamine Therapy in Patients with Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia. ASH 2005 abstract [3] Kushner, JP, Porter JP, Olivieri NF. Secondary Iron Overload. (PR Newswire)
Biotech's Bright Hope Aug 28, 2006
The approaches include what people traditionally think of as gene therapy: inserting functional genes to replace single, faulty ones to treat relatively rare genetic diseases such as muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, beta thalassemia and hemophilia. But, more and more, gene therapy is being studied as a treatment for lethal ills that are not inherited in any clear, simple way cancer, hepatitis, AIDS, heart disease and which also plague millions. (Los Angeles Times)
New Drug Helping Anemia Patients Avoid Needles Aug 26, 2006
Ravi has a severe inherited form of anemia called thalassemia that prevents his red blood cells from carrying their normal load of oxygen. Regular transfusions keep him healthy and active, but they have a downside. (CBS 11, TX)
Arief, Rendra, Iskandar win Achmad Bakrie Awards Aug 12, 2006
Iskandar Wahidiyat of the University of Indonesia has also dedicated 50 years to the study of thalassemia, an inherited disease that has received little attention in local scientific circles ... Iskandar initiated the founding of a foundation to support research and assistance for patients, including establishing a thalassemia section at Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital in Central Jakarta. (Jakarta Post, Indonesia)
Genetics Pioneer Y. W. Kan Earns Lifetime Achievement Award UCSF, Jul. 25 Jul 26, 2006
He demonstrated this in sickle cell anemia and thalassemia, and was the first to diagnose a human disease using DNA. He discovered DNA polymorphism, which is now extensively used for genetic analysis ... His research is currently focused on the use of gene therapy to treat sickle cell anemia and thalassemia. (University of California Newswire, CA)
Small but growing number of couples asking for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis May 29, 2006
PGD can also screen for serious genetic conditions like thalassemia and haemophilia. ADVERTISEMENT. (Channel NewsAsia, Singapore)
Blood disease caused by SNP-built promoter May 27, 2006
The study shows that a SNP in DNA near the alpha globin gene cluster creates a gain-of-function promoter-like element that interferes with normal globin expression, causing the blood disease alpha thalassemia ... In alpha thalassemia, reduced expression of any of four alpha globin genes causes anemia and red blood cell abnormalities ... Led by Marco De Gobbi of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, UK, and Vip Viprakasit of Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, the researchers studied 148... (The Scientist)
This Week in Palestine - May Week 03 May 20, 2006
We have 820 guests online. IMEMC ies - Friday, 19 May 2006, 19:34. (International Middle East Media Center)
A Woman with Anemia and Iron Overload May 11, 2006
NEJM -- Case 14-2006 -- A 25-Year-Old Woman with Anemia and Iron Overload. Please for full text and personal services. (New England Journal of Medicine)
Novartis Delivers Strong Start to 2006 in First Quarter with Excellent Sales and Earnings Growth Performance Apr 24, 2006
Primary use has been for the treatment of patients with the rare blood disorders thalassemia, sickle cell anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Exjade has already been approved in 15 countries, including Switzerland, and has been submitted for regulatory approval in Europe and other markets worldwide. (Primezone Releases)
Thais' cord blood stored overseas Apr 17, 2006
The blood stock is hoped to be a health safety guarantee for their children for a possible stem cell transplant should their children develop fatal blood-related ailments such as thalassemia and leukaemia in the future. Thai health officials said treatment using patients' own cord blood is not yet available in Thailand due to the high cost of storage. (Bangkok Post)
Blood for transfusion, a few clicks away Mar 25, 2006
"India needs nearly seven million units of blood per year.Most of those seeking help belong to the category of cancer patients or bypass surgery patients. And children suffering from Sickle cell and thalassemia who need frequent blood transfusions.The site was started in March 2000 after he and Fermin ran into a poor welder who died because he could not find sufficient blood."This got me thinking. That is what must be happening to people who are poor," said Poacha.At that time, the dot.com boom... (Hindustan Times, India)
Thalassemics get a shot in the arm Mar 10, 2006
Other than exempting thalassemia drugs and blood components like platelets and plasma from taxes, the government made announcements for beefing up the health infrastructure of the Capital. The finance minister on Friday said that Deferiprove and Deferioxamine two main drugs used by 2,000 thalassemia patients in city will be exempted from tax ... "A box of 10 Desferioxamine injections costs Rs 1,650 excluding taxes and a pack of 50 capsules of Deferiprove costs Rs 350 excluding taxes. A 40 kg... (India Times, India -- India)
Delhi budget has much to cheer the housewife, girl child and the ... Mar 10, 2006
He also proposed to exempt deferiprove and desferioxamine drugs used for treatment of thalassemia patients from payment of tax. All kinds of "hawan samagri" for auspicious occasions would also be exempted from payment of tax. (Hindu)
Church focuses on gospel in day-to-day life Feb 26, 2006
Spiritual leader: Bishop Horace E. Smith, a practicing pediatric oncologist/hematologist who directs the thalassemia and sickle-cell programs at Children's Memorial Hospital and is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. He's also the presiding bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Inc.. (Chicago Sun-Times)
The joy of simply being alive Feb 25, 2006
" It's mere coincidence that LoCurto works now for Hoyt, a strong advocate of transplant programs. Hoyt's father, Assemblyman William B. Hoyt, was fatally stricken in the Assembly chamber in March 1992 while waiting for a heart transplant. LoCurto has traveled a long road to his office in the Donovan State Office Building. At 3 months old, he was diagnosed with thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder. A graduate of City Honors School and the University at Buffalo, he went into heart failure in... (Buffalo News)
Stem Cell Research: Science and the Future Feb 15, 2006
" When? Much of the promise of stem cells rests on a scheme for replacing parts worn out by age, injury, or infirmity. Unfortunately, the reality of stem cell biology is overshadowed by the hype. For example, the future is imagined to hold an inexhaustible source of stem cells with a perfect genetic match banked at a local hospital, available for your every medical whim. Need a new pancreas? Place your order, and three weeks later a new one lies ready and waiting in the surgical suite. Heart... (NPR)
Scale, Toll of Gene Birth Defects Vast, Study Finds Jan 31, 2006
They included congenital heart defects (1 million cases); neural tube defects, such as spina bifida (324,000 cases); the hemoglobin disorders thalassemia and sickle cell disease (308,000 cases); Down syndrome (217,000 cases); and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (177,000 cases) ... Many people there carry a gene for an inherited disease, such as sickle cell, thalassemia, or G6PD deficiency, that protects against malaria but can produce birth defects when carriers mate ... Genetic... (LA Times,CA -- Intl)
Report: 8 million born with defects yearly Jan 31, 2006
Additionally, populations from Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia are most at risk of the common inherited diseases thalassemia, sickle cell and the metabolic disease G6PD, regions less likely to offer genetic testing that reveal at-risk couples. RELATED CONTENT. (MSNBC -- Health)
Report Reveals 6% of Babies Born with Genetic Birth Defect Jan 31, 2006
A trusted source of newsand information since 1942. 5 million of these children die under the age of five from their birth defects," said March of Dimes Vice President for Global Programs, Christopher Howson. "The ones who survive risk being disabled physically, intellectually, and have auditory and visual impairment for life. (Voice of America)
Genome Foundation to set up National Centre Jan 27, 2006
Millions of people were suffering from inherited disease like thalassemia, muscular dystrophy, diabetes and coronary heart disease. "One sixth of the world population living in India has never been systematically studied for prevalence of inherited genetic disorders. Several diseases prevalent in India are yet to be identified and reported. These cases cannot be explained on the basis of our current knowledge and hence their genetic basis needs to be established," he added. (Hindu)
New Study Confirms Prior Research Showing Efficacy of Using Umbilical Cord Blood to Treat Thalassemia Patients Jan 13, 2006
Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- StemCyte, Inc., a leading, global umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cell transplantation and therapeutic products company, today announced that a new study has confirmed prior research suggesting that unrelated UCB transplants may be a promising and cost-effective approach for curative therapy of thalassemia. Approximately 150,000 children worldwide are born each year with a serious form of thalassemia that could be cured by UCB transplants that StemCyte has helped to... (PR Newswire)
Symposium on stem cell transplantation today Jan 7, 2006
It could even be used in treating Thalassemia in children. Sections: | | | | | | | The Hindu Group: | | | | Group Sites. (Hindu)
